RAW Review and Reactions
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Last nights show kick started with a promo from the still WWE World Heavyweight champion, Seth Rollins. Fresh off he's win from Extreme Rules against Randy Orton inside a steal cage, the champ came to the ring sporting a nice big smile alongside J&J security and the man who shaped the ending of the main event, Kane. After he's mixed bunch of actions last night Kane himself had more to clear up and address than the actual champion but it was Rollins who first took to the mic. Floating he's own boat Rollins took us through just some of the highlights of he's career so far including he's win this past Sunday, the rise and fall of the Shield witch was all decided and made by him himself and of course he's money in the bank cash in at Wrestlemania. Claiming to be a fighting champion and claiming he won the match on he's own witch put a rather interesting face on Kane. The champion would carry on talking and insulting Kane until the point where the veteran took it to himself to start talking for himself. After the champ and the former "big red monster" started to really get into their little bicker fight the words would grab the attention of Randy Orton who seemed to feel he was entitled to a rematch. But then another man made he's presence known, as Roman Reigns' music hit and he made he's way to the ring. To be honest I saw this coming. It was only last week that Reigns pinned the champ in a tag team match on Smackdown. Cutting he's own little promo...on the announce table, Reigns made it perfectly clear he was coming after Rollins and the championship and he deserves a shot. To be fair, I'll give it to Reigns he wasn't all that bad on the mic last night. For some reason, lately, I've just been really on Team Roman, I don't know why but it's happening. In the end Kane made a huge decision to have himself and Rollins team up to take on the team of Reigns and Orton and by the end of the night we will know who is the number one contender for the WWE championship, thanks to the WWE universe...
As we found out recently, the WWE King Of the ring was returning and a thew hours before RAW kick started the combatants were announced on WWE.com and the matches for the night where announced. They included, Dean Ambrose VS Sheamus, Adrian Neville VS Luke Harper, Dolph Ziggler VS Bad News Barrett, and R-truth VS Stardust. I grew up watching and loving the King Of the ring and I was seriously devastated when it ended so you can just imagine how delighted I was to hear of it's return. I think the have brought it back just at the right time. The King Of The Ring is something that is really needed in this day in age in pro wrestling and most importantly the WWE. It gives underdogs the chance to shine. New guys to make their mark on the main roster, and for superstars struggling to get on their feet to get back on track. I don't see any fault with the decision to bring it back. When it comes to the matches that where put together and the superstars put in the tournament I think the WWE did a great job. They really picked out all the right superstars to put in the tournament I genuinely think that it will be difficult choosing a winner. I like how unpredictable it is and I like the diversity in the chosen superstars. If I could change on thing or at least suggest something, is maybe putting Roman Reigns in the mix. I have said it enough times that I think this year needs to be about preparing Reigns for the top spot next year and maybe having him win the King Of the ring might have been the best next move to make in that journey but at the same time, I really do like that that the more underrated, worthy superstars are in the picture instead. If I had to choose a personal winner, I very quickly decided on either Sheamus or Ambrose, but at the same time I was rooting for Ziggler, Barrett, and Harper at the same time even though I felt it was very unlikely Harper would win. If you bring out down to who needs it the most, I still think it falls on Ambrose and Sheamus It's really nice having that unpredictability back to RAW and the king of the ring back again.
The first match in the two thousand and fifteen King of the ring tournament was between two former Intercontinental champions in Bad News Barrett and Dolph Ziggler. We have all seen the amazing matches these two have put on against one another over the years and so I was all down for viewing another brawl between the two. I've said it before but because they are so different it just works and they compliment each other so so well in the ring. I loved the idea of these two both being out in the tournament, their both worthy of wining the king of the ring winner this year and it was another unpredictable match witch I loved as a fan hated as a blogger. I of course was taking the side of Barrett just because he's my favourite of the two but I would of been happy with either leaving the victor. If I had to look at it more politically I would of said that Ziggler needed it the most but it mainly depended on what they had in store for him for the next month. Whether or not they were continuing he's work with Sheamus so it was an interesting to watch. The match itself really did jump into the action straight away. The crowd made it clear very early on that they were strongly behind Ziggler but the start of the match saw the five time IC champion Bad News Barrett take control and manage the pace of this match, but the speed of Ziggler crept up on Barrett very quickly. We saw Barrett spend a lot time wearing down Ziggler, taking away all the energy of the fan favourite. Halfway through the match Sheamus made an appearance distracting Ziggler and allowing Barrett to walk away advancing into the semi-finals, making Sheamus' match a little more predicable. The match was shorter than I expected but what we got kept me entertained, basic booking but it worked and I liked the fact the Ziggler/Sheamus feud is continuing for a little longer.
We then saw our new tag team champions the new day out and in action as the power of the group Big E went one on one with a favourite of mine, Tyson Kidd. And intresting pairing for the night but the two teams seem to have some good chemistry so I was down for that. Both Kidd and Big E have very very different styles and advantages and we really saw that last night. The match was very short lived and after once again having help from Xavier Woods, the new day left victorious. I'm liking the mic work, team work and wrestling work from these guys as of late.
Ryback was in action next as he and Bo Dallas had a little rematch from last night. We saw Bo dominate the match very early on sing he's speed advantage to just that but the strength of Ryback was once again too much for Bo and the big guy left the winner again. It makes me sad to think Bo Dallas is a former longest reigning NXT champion and top NXT star now he's hear. Anyway, after the match Bray Wyatt attacked Ryback and made it clear that the past thew weeks he has been targeting the big guy all along. For me this just does not work. In my opinion I think they should of kept Bray off of TV for a couple of months until something stronger came up for him. I don't think this feud will do anything for either superstar. John Cena was up next with he's United States championship open challenge witch was answered by Heath Slater but after being attacked by Rusev there was no open challenge.R-truth VS Stardust had to be the least interesting of the booking of the king of the ring tournament
and the one I was least looking forward too. But I did want to give it a chance and try and at at least get into it, after all I am a Stardust fan. I predicted him to win this one as soon as I head it was even going ahead. As predicted this was dominated by Stardust almost from the get go. We some offence from R-truth at the begging but it was the one match of the night I wasn't really into or paying much attention too. In the end R-truth scored the win advancing into the semi finals. After that Fandango was in action when he took on Adam Rose. Rose dominated most of the match showing a real nice aggressive side witch I always like to see from Adam Rose, brings back nice Leo Kruger memories. I'm also really liking seeing Fandango work as a baby face for a change. We saw some impressive moves from Fandango last night but after a distraction from Rosa Mendes, Adam Rose scored a nice little win and then made out with Rosa....
Divas action next and Brie Bella was set to take on Naomi. Before this match we saw Brie update us on Daniel Bryan to be honest things just didn't sound great. During the interview Naomi gave Brie a nice little slap and told her that no one cared about Bryan... It seemed as though Brie was working as a baby face again but to be honest things are a little all over the place at the moment in the divas division and with who is a baby face and who is a heel. Anyway, the match last night saw Naomi dominate most of this match really taking it to Brie. I really am loving the more aggressive side to Naomi and seeing a new side to her completely. I loved how much the crowd where into the match and how much they backed the girls out their. The match wasn't longest but what we got from them both in the match was really strong and I did really enjoy what I saw. Naomi once again walked away with another win over a Bella.
The next match in the tournament saw two of my favourites go at it as Sheamus and Dean Ambrose battled it out to get one step closer to becoming the two thousand and fifteen King Of the ring winner.As I have already said, these two were my favourites to win and I noted them as the two who need the win the most. As a mega fan of both these superstars it was close to impossible to choose a side but for the simple fact I was wearing a Dean Ambrose shirt last night I was cheering on our favourite Lunatic fringe. When I first found out that these two where going to be competing last night I literally could of jumped with joy and once again not just because they are two of my favourites but also because these two are capable of putting on one of the greatest matches of the year. They both have that extreme, tough guy style in the ring that really does grip you. Ambrose brings that unpredictability to everything he does while Sheamus brings some tradition. A true, pure, European, tough style that you have to love. You give these guys ten minuets and their going to blow your mind away. With that in mind I really was keeping my hopes up on the fact these two might get a long match because they really did more than deserve it. If you look back at their performances from the previous night they were both beaming with momentum for two very different reasons. Ambrose was high on he's first pay per view win since going solo and even though Sheamus lost he's match against Dolph Ziggler he left Extreme Rules with the last laugh, having a strong performance and giving Ziggler a good old fashion beat down after the match and shaming him in front of the entire WWE universe. In my opinion this was the hardest match out of the tournament to predict. I have to admit I was a little worried for both of them because I wasn't sure witch one would suffer the most with a loss, I wasn't sure how two straight losses for Sheamus would go down for him but after what happened earlier on in the night with Ziggler it was easy to predict the ending. Anyway, the match started out very physical and very hands on straight away. As soon as that bell rang these two went at each other and really got physical. We saw Sheamus use that Strength advantage to the max throughout this match, from start to finish. The crowd were clearly strongly behind Ambrose and were very vocal throughout. What I liked about this match was how back and fourth it was. Neither one spent too much time in control and the action kept coming despite it not being the fastest paced match. It was one of those matches where you couldn't afford to take your eyes off the TV because you might just miss something big. The character in this match too was just so great. They both have such good characters and tell stories so well in the ring that it just works so well and they brought a whole new level of entertainment that no one else on the night brought. It had fast paced moments when Ambrose was in control and slower paced moments when Sheamus was in control. The styles throughout the match changed witch I liked also and kept that unpredictable feel to it. They took the action outside of the ring witch worked. The closing moments saw Dolph Ziggler attack Sheamus causing Ambrose the match and allowing Sheamus to qualify for the semi finals. I can say, I really hated this ending but all round great match, would of been nice for Ambrose to have won and Ziggler waited until after the match.
Last night, we also got a really lovely promo from Damien Sandow that almost made me wanna cry it was that lovely.Yes I did just use the word lovely. It was nice to hear him talk about he's journey in the WWE. Then came Curtis Axel and then the best segment ever. The little work between Sandow and Axel literally, I swear had me cry laughing. I really do love these two and they really do put a huge smile on my face and it's nice to have some comedy to the show instead of always being so serious. Sandow also debuted a new entrance theme.
The last match in the king of the ring tournament saw another two of my favourite superstars go at, as Luke Harper and Adrian Neville tried to get a step closer to becoming the two thousand and fifteen king of the ring winner. Once again, I don't need to sit hear and tell you just how much I love both these superstars, I go on about it enough every single day on twitter and on my blog. Out of all the matches of the night I thought this was the most predictable but also the most interesting. This was a very unique pairing. Both Neville and Harper are completely worlds apart from their all round image to their actual wrestling style. I did really think these guys could put on a really great match because of how different they were and this could easily have been he's best match on the main roster so far (Neville that is). Think about, if these guys were given say fifteen minuets they could easily blow our minds away and give us a match of the year quality match. So for this one I did really put everything aside and paid attention to see what these guys would put on even though I was one hundred percent sure Neville was walking away the winner and I do think that Neville is one of the favourites to win the tournament. I think out of all the matches this was the one I was most interested in and most fascinated by. The start of this match was very very fast paced and saw Neville take serious control.We saw the former NXT champion use he's speed to he's advantage to keep the match at he's pace and there for in he's control. But it would not take long at all for Harper to turn things around and slow it all down a notch. Of course throughout the match Neville gave us some "Holy shit" moments and had some great spots. I was seriously entertained throughout this match, from the very start right to the very end because it was just so fast paced , so energetic, so full of big big action. These guys proved they are two of the best of the best and they put on a truly outstanding match. The NXT chants also put a huge smile on my face. The closing moments where done so well and the match was so so well put together. I just flat out loved it and Neville earned that win, advancing to
the semi finals.
It was then time for out main event witch saw Roman Reigns and Randy Orton team up to take on Kane and the WWE World Heavyweight champion, Seth Rollins. We would also be finding out at the end who would be challenging Rollins for the championship at payback, either Reigns, Orton, or both. I wasn't too fussed with this main event. Yes, it is still another typical, predicable, RAW main event but I think it was the mood that I was in last night that made me not as annoyed with it and to be honest I was actually looking forward to the main event, despite not having high expectations at all. And actually I didn't find this match as predicable as normal. I was surprised and delighted to see Roman Reigns start the match. For a while now we have seen him score Cena wins, where he basically spends most of the time watching the action then in the final moments he tags himself in and scores the win but we got something a little different last night. I was actually surprised to see just how much he did do last night and he did spend most of the time in the ring in control. Rollins also did spend a lot of time in the ring and in control but it was nice to see how well he and Kane worked and how much we got to see of Kane in the ring. Randy pulled out some pretty awesome stuff. Near the end we saw Kane really loose it taking it to J&J Security and Rollins. The ending was done so so well and saw Orton pin the champion. I really was not expecting to enjoy this match but I really did and I thought it was a great way to end the night. After the match we found out that at Payback it will be Roman Reigns VS Randy Orton VS Seth Rollins for the WWE championship and Reigns made a hue statement spearing the champion to close the show.The show last night as a whole was not bad at all. I felt like they tried to get through a lot in one show but it managed to work. We had some great matches, top two had to be Sheamus VS Dean Ambrose and Luke Harper VS Adrian Neville. There was a great main event and I was all round pretty happy with the show. You can let me know what you thought my leaving a comment bellow or by tweeting me at @TezangiVictoria.
Extreme Rules Review and Reactions
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